The present invention relates to immunoassays, more particularly, to immunoassays for derivatives of amphetamine, and especially to “ecstasy drugs.”
The use and abuse of a class of illicit designer drugs known commonly as “ecstasy drugs” have increased significantly in recent years. These compounds, which are derivatives of amphetamine distinguished by having a fused methylenedioxy-phenyl ring system, include: MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine); MDMA also known as “Ecstasy” (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine); MDEA also known as “Eve” (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-ethylamphetamine); BDB (3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-butanamine); MBDB (3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-N-methylbutanamine); and MDPA (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-propylamphetamine).
Heretofore, methods for the detection of ecstasy drugs have primarily involved immunoassays originally developed for the detection of amphetamine and/or methamphetamine. The detection of an ecstasy drug by such assays relies on the limited cross-reactivities that may coincidentally exist between the ecstasy drug and the amphetamine and/or methamphetamine antibodies. A positive result obtained by such an assay may still not indicate which particular substance or member of the methylenedioxy class of derivatives is present in a sample.
In general, amphetamine and methamphetamine immunoassays are relatively insensitive to and non-specific for ecstasy drugs. Such assays show particularly limited recognition for the MDEA (“Eve”) derivative.
The present invention is directed to remedying these and other problems relating to the use of conventional amphetamine and/or methamphetamine immunoassays for the detection of members of the methylenedioxy (MD) class of ecstasy drugs.